Thursday 23 March 1664/65

Up and to my Lord Sandwich, who follows the Duke this day by water down to the Hope, where “The Prince” lies. He received me, busy as he was, with mighty kindness and joy at my promotions; telling me most largely how the Duke hath expressed on all occasions his good opinion of my service and love for me. I paid my thanks and acknowledgement to him; and so back home, where at the office all the morning. At noon to the ‘Change. Home, and Lewellin dined with me. Thence abroad, carried my wife to Westminster by coach, I to the Swan, Herbert’s, and there had much of the good company of Sarah and to my wish, and then to see Mrs. Martin, who was very kind, three weeks of her month of lying in is over.

So took up my wife and home, and at my office a while, and thence to supper and to bed.

Great talk of noises of guns heard at Deale, but nothing particularly whether in earnest or not.

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"...carried my wife to Westminster by coach, I to the Swan, Herbert’s, and there had much of the good company of Sarah and to my wish, and then to see Mrs. Martin, who was very kind, three weeks of her month of lying in is over. So took up my wife and home,..."

Seeing those ladies of negotiable virtue in Drury Lane really had a bad effect on you, Sam. How about some new vows for Easter ?(next week for Sam).

" three weeks of her month of lying in is over. " Oh, the luxury! Mother tells about having a nurse for a month after my first brother was born (1938), a woman who did the housekeeping & meals while mother rested...I myself was entitled to a week's rest in hospital after each child in the 1970s, which I never could bring myself to take. My daughters, if they gave birth in hospital, were sent home after 48 hours. Times change. Enjoy it while you can, Betty!

But as yet there is no indication that his joy in his new appointment is to be shared with Elizabeth. (Though I suppose that a celebratory trip to the theatre might be difficult to arrange in Holy Week). In fact, I wonder whether she even knows that he has achieved this promotion? Sam probably only tells her as much as he feels she really needs to know.

Also no expression of Bess' concerns and anxieties about the war, despite Sam's little dramatic flourish at the end. In the first year he does a fine job of indicating their shared anxiety about the threat of renewed civil war before the Restoration but now not a hint of her feelings. Surely she can't be utterly unconcerned seeing how involved her husband is in the war effort. After all, even if he's not facing the enemy if the war goes badly Sam may face serious questioning, even imprisonment. And she must be hearing a growing, steady drumbeat of complaints from friends and acquaintances about the government's increasing wartime demands and damning displays of incompetence and corruption. Not to mention there are many friends and acquaintances heading off...

I think it's safe to assume from the past our Bess is not the type to hear Sam's "nothing to worry your pretty head over, dear" and stroll off contented to do housework, whistling a happy tune... An unfortunate loss to Sam's growing self-centeredness...And busy career.

On the 23rd March Holmes was granted a full pardon and a release from all debts and demands concerning shipping and ammunition as well as of all other felonies and offences committed in England or elsewhere up to that day.

Sam talks of the Duke who has "love for me" and then seeks the good company of a couple of women. This doesn't strike me as a Don Juan, more like an insecure little boy. Maybe he's not getting the attention from his wife. Rbt Gertz could be onto some thing there.

Are you joking? You can't seriously think men cheat because they don't get enough attention from their wives. He's enjoying the usual prerogative of powerful men (which he is delighted to discover himself to be). He's far from an "insecure little boy"; he's a grown man with desires greater than his scruples.

On this day (for Jeannine) from the Journal of Sandwich edited by Anderson…

“The King, the Duke and the Duchess went down to the Hope aboard my ship the Prince. The Duke sailed on in his yacht towards the Gunfleet where the fleet rode at anchor. I came out of London about noon in my coach to Gravesend and lodged aboard the Prince."

A month's lying-in was usual [ for those who could afford it ] until the beginning of the 19th century or later, because of the risk of late sepsis. Then followed the churching of the mother: http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclopedia/6572/(Per L&M footnote)

Good point, Tonyel, and yes they would warrant a gun salute. The Hope isn't that close to Deal, but allowing for echoes and atmospherics, who knows. Perhaps the Royal Navy could test your theory some time?